1 Timothy 1:13 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Timothy 1:13

Comments

It must almost choke the apostle to utter or to write these terms. I was a blasphemer; I was a persecutor of Christians and of Christ and injurious. I harmed and I hurt, but I obtained mercy. I didn't deserve it, it's pure mercy. Why was he not counted as one of those who had committed the unpardonable sin? Like the scribes and the Pharisees who had the front row seats, close up views of the healing miracles of Christ and knew that this was unexplainable in human terms and must be from God, and yet hardened their hearts and wouldn't believe, and sinned against the Spirit and against Christ and became unredeemable. Don’t forget that they were a few yards away from Jesus Christ our Lord when he cast out demons and healed people and even raise the dead. They were watchers; they saw it; they saw so many thousands of people healed, and all the power and proof of the divinity of Christ was there. But although they saw it, they steeled themselves against him, and hated him, and rejected him; or at least, so many of them did.Why wasn't Paul in that category? Because Paul had never had a front row seat; he had never seen it and hardened his heart against it and spat upon it and attacked it. He was foolish, he was wicked, he was a bigot, but he believed in his perverted bigotry that to execute Christians was to preserve the Jewish faith and to serve God. Yes, he was deeply and desperately sinful, but he was completely bigoted and ignorant and misinformed. It wasn't a deliberate strike against the Messiah. He didn't grasp that, he didn't see that. So he wasn't in the category of the unpardonable sin. He says that he did it ignorantly, in unbelief, but he still deserved hell and he was saved only by the mercy and kindness of Christ and by his substitutionary atoning death on Calvary and his offered-up righteousness imputed to a needy sinner. ‘But I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.’ That is not an excuse. What does the apostle mean? ‘I wasn’t to blame for my sin’? O no, he tells us so many times he was to blame; he wilfully didn’t believe in Christ. So what does he mean when he says, ‘I did it ignorantly and in unbelief’? Well, he means only this – that he hadn’t committed the unpardonable sin, like some of the scribes and Pharisees.

Application

What an encouragement for seeking souls. ‘Can I be saved?’ you say. ‘Will God listen to my prayer of repentance, and my giving myself to him, and asking for salvation? How can I be sure?’ Well, here is one way. You look at these words; they are a tremendous encouragement to you if you are seeking Christ and in any doubt of him – ‘Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious’, one who harmed the church and the people of God. If he can be saved, you and I can be saved. Don’t ever think Christ will not receive you and hear your repentance. The apostle Paul is a great encouragement to us. You cannot be as bad as him, dear friends, though there is so much sin in you. He is an example set forth by God of how far grace will go to reach sinners.

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1 Timothy 1:13 Commentary and Bible Study